Team India (Pic credit: Hockey India)
NEW DELHI: India head coach Craig Fulton has urged his side to show greater composure and sharpen their defensive discipline against Pakistan after England exposed their weaknesses in a 2-4 defeat in their second Pool D match of the Hockey World Cup on Monday. India produced a strong first half and led 2-1 at the break after goals from Harmanpreet Singh and Dilpreet Singh.
In the third quarter our defence was not as good as it was supposed to be,” Fulton said after the match. We needed to press out and put some pressure on them,” he said. “The first half was good. We got PCs on the counter-attack and came back nicely with a bit more control. “England played like a world number three team. We created a few chances but couldn’t convert those. The India coach was quick to shift focus to the Pakistan game, recognising the importance of Wednesday’s clash. India have three points from two matches after beating Wales in their opener, while Pakistan have one point. We just have to be better on the ball in the final match and show a bit of composure. “The forward line played well but we needed to score three-plus goals and we could only score two. It’s just the second match and we will learn from this loss. We have another big opportunity against Pakistan and the boys are motivated for that.”
But England turned the contest around after half-time, scoring three times to leave India needing at least a point against Pakistan in their final pool match on Wednesday to progress to the second round. “If we had won today, we still have to do the business in the next game.